Friday, April 20, 2012

Chocolate Orange Almond Cake (Flourless)

When it comes to baking, there are some recipes that are just plain easy.

You find yourself using only one bowl, or two at the most. There is no stand mixer involved or even an electric mixer. You get to the end of the recipe and haven't even broken a sweat, it is that easy.

This chocolate cake is not one of those recipes.



You may be thinking to yourself that it is just a chocolate cake, is it really that difficult to make?

And the answer is, this cake is no 'piece of cake'. (Pun intended!)



It required no less than a food processor, an electric mixer, a grater, 3 mixing bowls, and the other usual measuring cups and spoons.  

Sure, reading this list makes it feel like I am complaining for nothing. However, in my defense, I do not have a food processor or an electric mixer so I had to be creative.

And for me, being creative usually leads to making a big mess.





Now, talking about the cake. Once it was done and the kitchen was clean, I was tired.  The cake however, did make me feel better!

It was moist, light, and fluffy. I felt like I was eating a brownie, only less dense, with a hint of citrus, and definitely more guilt-free. The cake does have texture from the nuts, but I think that could have been solved with a food processor and a lot of processing.

In the end, despite its success, I decided that this is cake will be a special occasion only cake. It looks good, taste delicious, and would be sure to impress guests. But as someone who is not a big chocolate person, I could get through about half of the cake in a week.  And I hate not being able to finish something I made while it is still fresh!




Happy weekend everyone!


Chocolate Orange Almond Cake
Adapted from bonappetit.com

Melted butter for the pan
1 1/4 cups whole almonds (6 to 7 ounces)
1 cup sugar, divided
6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
6 large eggs, separated
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/4 teaspoon salt


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush bottom of 10-inch-diameter springform pan generously with butter. 


2. Blend almonds and 1/4 cup sugar in processor until almonds are finely ground. Add chocolate; blend until chocolate is finely ground, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally.


3. In a small bowl, whisk cocoa, orange juice, and orange peel in until smooth. Set aside.


4. In a large bowl, combine egg yolks and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. Then, using electric mixer, beat until yolk mixture is very thick, about 4 minutes. Beat in cocoa and orange mixture. 


5. Fold in the ground almond and chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture and set aside.


6. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites and salt in another large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar, beating until whites are stiff but not dry. 


7. Fold whites into chocolate batter in 3 additions. Transfer to prepared pan.


8. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan on rack. 


Enjoy!


Rona



4 comments:

  1. yum rona. funny, with your intro i started to think, "hey don't flourless cakes take a lot of effort?" and yup, sure enough they do.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I will definitely make this next time I'm around a bunch of chocolate lovers! ANd you're right...cake is often no piece of cake. you really have to be mentally prepared to start baking!

    ReplyDelete

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